Eloquence
by uniqueinkblots
Summary: On his mother's request, Eddie moves to the UK to live with his estranged father in order to shape up in terms of school. It is during this quest for academic reform that he finds himself involved in the Model United Nations program. He meets Patricia, who happens to be amazing to spend time with, despite the attitude. Too bad she's also his biggest rival at conference. AU Peddie.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:**

Oh hi there :)

So you're probably wondering why on earth I'm starting a new chaptered fic when TH isn't finished. I'm kind of wondering the same thing. I'm a tad insane. But mostly, I'm putting this out there because the first three chapters have been written and I was just too excited to wait to publish it. Plus, in my defense, at least I finished SC before I dared to post this thing!

This fic is AU after season one. In this universe, Eddie is still the Osirian but he never becomes an official part of the Sibuna gang so while his role as Osirian crops up a few times in passing, it is not the focus. In fact, for the most part, we'll be ignoring the events of seasons two and three all together. This means that Mick won't be around anymore and we won't be meeting Willow. Therefore, I'll be sticking with the following pairings: Amber/Alfie, Jerome/Mara and Fabian/Nina. It won't come up much but I thought I'd just mention it to avoid confusion. I think technically Mick and Mara were together for part of S2 but eh...details.

I don't know how many of you are familiar with Model United Nations but don't worry about if you're not. You don't have to be – I promise everything will make sense! I was a bit of a MUN nerd in high school and continue to be so in college so I kind of wanted to write something incorporating it just because. I thought it'd be fun.

This fic will be a total of 10 chapters. I'm making good progress with writing it. Like I said, 3 chapters are complete and I hope to have another two finished next week. I think I'll be posting once a week - on Fridays!

Chapter length (excluding A/N): 3815 words

**Disclaimer: House of Anubis belongs to Nickelodeon, not me.**

* * *

The airport was crowded, more than Eddie had expected it to be. His flight had landed two hours late and therefore he figured Heathrow Airport would be dead by this time of night. But he was wrong; the place was bustling with activity. In the terminal, people stepped around him as he blinked sleepily, trying to shake out the gross feeling of being stuck in a metal tube for nine hours.

Once he had woken up a bit, (he had been too anxious to sleep on the plane so he had turned to the inflight entertainment) he shuffled to the immigration lines.

The immigration officer yawned and motioned for Eddie to place his documents on the counter, his expression one of utter boredom.

"Your purpose in visiting the United Kingdom?"

Eddie cleared his throat, nervous to say the words out loud for the first time. "I'm actually moving here," he said.

The officer eyed him up and down, his gaze passive. Eddie suddenly felt nervous even though he had no reason to be. His paperwork was in order and he was perfectly legal. But this was his first time traveling alone and he didn't like the way this guy was looking at him, judgmental and unimpressed.

"Why are you moving here?"

"My parents are divorced. I'm here to live with my father for a while," Eddie explained. "Until college, actually. Um, I'm 17. I'm going to be a high school junior."

He knew he was babbling, but he really didn't know what he was supposed to be saying. What was considered extra information? Usually his mom did the talking when they traveled. The only thing he ever had to worry about was hauling their bags off the belt at baggage claim. Fending for himself at immigration was new territory for him.

The immigration officer seemed to take pity on Eddie. Something in his expression changed and he nodded swiftly, stamping a bunch of papers before handing him his passport and waving him through.

Eddie sighed with relief, mildly annoyed with himself for feeling so awkward. He squared his shoulders and got through customs and baggage claim with more ease and confidence.

But finally, he could avoid going "home" no longer. He had run out of things to do at the airport and it was now past three in the morning. Eddie knew he should feel guilty for lingering at such a late hour, but he didn't, still irrationally angry with his father for bailing.

It wasn't fair. He had grown up without a father even though his was very much alive. His parents had been divorced for as long as he could remember, since he was a toddler to be exact.

His father, Eric Sweet, had relocated to the UK when Eddie was just a kid. His mother had told him that they had ended up being too different for one another and that Eric's place was at some private school he ran, but that's all the information Eddie had ever received.

He wasn't stupid though. He knew there was a lot more to his parents split. But by the time he had been old enough to ask, his bitterness had grown too much for him to even bother questioning it.

When he was younger, his mother had been his world. She was so loving, that the Christmas cards and annual visits from his dad had been enough. He never felt the need to ask those hard questions or to be mad at his dad.

But after turning 10, he defiantly began refusing to see his father. He was growing up and things were changing. And though Eddie would never admit to feeling this way, it had hurt when his father hadn't questioned his decision, when he hadn't insisted on seeing his son.

"Too busy with that stupid school," Eddie muttered aloud as he remembered his childhood with a pang of sadness. He pulled out his cellphone from his back pocket and dialed his father. "I'm outside door two, near the United Airlines sign," he muttered, hanging up before Mr. Sweet could get a word in edgewise.

Eddie tried to convince himself that he had done it to save money and not to be rude, but he knew himself better. There _would_ be international charges, but that hadn't been on his mind.

He did plan on getting set up with a local cellphone as soon as possible though. Texting his mom to let her know he reached safely proved to be a little costly.

He was still miffed at her for sending him here in the first place, but he was more or less over that anger. He missed her already; another thing he didn't plan on telling anyone.

Plus in retrospect, he didn't blame her for telling him to try something new. He _had _been a bit of a challenge and he knew it very well.

By the time he was in high school, Eddie had taken to acting out in school. He didn't study, only doing the bare minimum to get him through. But since he wasn't stupid, he managed low Bs and high Cs just by sheer intelligence alone. He cut at least one class a week, dedicated his time to practical jokes and being snarky, and generally spent his academic career hassling his mother and teachers.

Occasionally he felt kind of bad, because he didn't actually dislike his elders or anything. There was no secrete grudge; he simply got bored. He had no perspective. Everything was a game to him, and he liked it as such.

Eventually his easygoing attitude had been too much for his mother, and she had pulled him out of school at the end of the 10th grade, after a prank gone wrong. (There had been some unintended destruction of property, but his mother hadn't listened. Enough was enough.)

Still though, he didn't think he had deserved to get shipped off to London, to a person that clearly didn't care for his wellbeing, forget about loving him.

But Eddie hadn't had a choice and so here was. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, feeling restless. He felt disgusting from traveling for so long. He just wanted to take a shower, brush his teeth, and then go to sleep and pretend that this wasn't his life.

Finally, a medium sized black car pulled up right next to him and his father stepped out.

It was unsettling, the resemblance between them. Eric's hair was graying, no longer blondish brown, but Eddie knew that once upon a time it had been. Some of their features were the same too, like the ears and the nose.

Though he wasn't pleased about it, Eddie was undeniably Eric Sweet's son.

"Eddie!" Mr. Sweet called, striding up to the curb. He pulled his son into a brief, awkward one-armed hug. Eddie remained stiff and unyielding, flinching when Eric patted his back before letting him go.

"I think our call got disconnected earlier," Mr. Sweet said, oblivious to what had actually occurred.

Eddie was surprised to find that he didn't have the heart to tell him the truth. "Bad connection," he said with agreement, grabbing one his bags and placing it in the trunk.

Mr. Sweet picked up the other one, grunting a bit. He pulled out a handkerchief to dab at his forehead when he was done. "The other three suitcases you shipped arrived last night," he informed Eddie. "Lots of stuff, huh?"

"As much as my life as I could fit into five suitcases total and a backpack," Eddie said shortly, aware of how rude he sounded.

"Ah," Mr. Sweet replied, looking vaguely disappointed.

This made Eddie semi furious because what right did his dad have to be upset? What had he been expecting, a cheerful and ever grateful son? His entire life was being uprooted; he didn't have to be pleased about it.

"So the flight was late, I noticed," Mr. Sweet continued in an effort to continue the conversation. "You took a while to get out."

"The line for American citizens was long," Eddie commented with a shrug. "I'm not British. I don't belong here."

Mr. Sweet sighed. "Listen," he began gently, ignoring the headache that was beginning to form. "I know that you're not exactly a fan of mine. I understand why you're upset - "

"I don't think you do," Eddie snapped. His plan had been to remain aloof and uncaring, but he was exhausted and his father's absence from his life had always been a bit of a sore spot. He knew lashing out wasn't right, but he didn't care. "You don't know a thing about me. You haven't even seen me since I was in the 5th grade! Did you even know what I would look like?"

Mr. Sweet looked taken aback at Eddie's outburst. "You refused to see me," he pointed out weakly.

That was obviously the wrong thing to say, because Eddie's expression darkened. "You didn't exactly try to change my mind!" he accused.

At this, Eric stayed silent, horribly ashamed. It was true. Eddie had been young when he had left, and at the time, Eric had been pretty young himself. He hadn't been ready to be a father and things with Molly were already strained before the arrival of their son.

Add his fierce dedication to mysterious Egyptian mythology (something Eddie knew nothing about) and attraction to danger, and the result was a mutual divorce. Molly had wanted no part of Eric's world once she knew of his crazy mission for unlimited life and Eric hadn't wanted to be a part of hers.

It was love gone wrong. Or maybe they had never been in love at all. Years of analyzing, and Eric still wasn't sure which one it was.

"I'm sorry," he said warily, closing his eyes to hide the grief in his expression. "I know it's not good enough, but you should know that I regret how I handled things. Although Molly and I…even though we didn't work as a couple, she has been quite excellent about updating me on your life and your accomplishments."

At this, Eddie found himself snorting. He hadn't "accomplished" a single thing to date.

"I have lots of pictures of you," Mr. Sweet continued. "Recent ones. Your mother sends me a few once a month, via email. I've saved them all."

Eddie's head snapped up in surprise. He hadn't realized his parents were in such frequent contact, his mom had never mentioned it.

"I didn't know that," he replied, sullen. He glanced desperately at his watch and shifted.

Sensing his discomfort, Mr. Sweet opened the passenger door for him before walking around to the other side. "Let's get you home," he suggested. "There's plenty of time to talk and there's certainly plenty of time to argue. But perhaps after you've been settled."

Eddie found himself feeling oddly touched by his father's thoughtfulness. "Okay," he muttered in response, regretting his behavior a little. He didn't owe his father anything, but his mom had raised him better.

He opened his mouth to apologize but nothing came out.

"You're going to live with me now, Edison," Mr. Sweet commented, ten minutes into the car ride home. "I know we have a lot to work through, but that in essence is what I'm hoping for. That you allow for us to work through our differences, that we get a chance to know each other."

Eddie could have argued that Eric _had _the chance to get to know him but had abandoned him instead. Instead, he rested his head on the cool glass windowpane and sighed. "Call me Eddie," he instructed, aware that it sounded more like an order than a request.

Very much used to hostile teenagers, Mr. Sweet didn't once mention Eddie's bad attitude. "Eddie," he repeated carefully, making a mental note to remember that the best he could.

The rest of the car ride passed in a tense silence, Eddie too wound up to sleep. To his surprise, they crossed a fanciful iron wrought gate before the car climbed a hill, passing several buildings on the way.

"This is a school campus," he observed.

"Ra International Boarding School," Mr. Sweet confirmed with a hint of pride.

"Like the sun god," Eddie mumbled.

Mr. Sweet hid his shock. "That's right," he murmured. "You're interested in the old Egyptian culture?"

Eric's hope of having something in common with his son faded as Eddie shrugged and said "Nah. Mom has some books lying around the study about Egypt though. I'd read them when I got grounded and stuff."

"I see," Mr. Sweet coughed lightly, unsure of what to do with the knowledge that Molly had kept some of his old reference books. "And how often did you get grounded?"

"Often enough," Eddie replied firmly, his jaw tilted with defiance as though he daring his dad to comment.

Mr. Sweet didn't take the bait.

"I used to have an apartment about ten minutes from school grounds but I soon learned that being the headmaster of a boarding school of this scale requires me to live on campus like the rest of the staff," he explained.

"So now I have a house further on the hill, past the school buildings. It's fairly isolated from the rest of staff housing so you don't need to worry about living with a bunch of stuffy old teachers," he continued with a chuckle. "You will have to walk past the campus and down the hills to get back to the school gate though. From there, a Blue Ridge Academy bus will take you to school. It's only a fifteen minute ride.

When Molly had insisted that Eddie move to London and get a fresh start, she had tentatively proposed that he intend Eric's school, Ra International. Eddie had vehemently refused, throwing around reasons like becoming a loser because of being related to the school headmaster. And while that was a valid concern, he mostly had no interest in attending one of the main factors that had contributed to stealing away his father.

"I know a school bus doesn't sound appealing…"

Eddie was dismayed to find that his father was _still _talking. He wondered if he was always this chatty.

"…But you'll just have to manage till we can see what can be done about you getting a license. Your mother mentioned that you had one back in California. I don't know much about these things but I think you might need to take your road test again; I'll look into it. Then you can drive my car since for the most part, everywhere I need is walkable. Even the quaint downtown area that students visit on weekends is close."

"That…" Eddie hesitated. "That sounds good. Um...thanks."

"You're welcome," Mr. Sweet smiled wanly with relief. "Let's unload your things and get you to bed. You can get a full tour in the morning."

Eddie followed his father into the house and between the two of them, they managed to get all his bags upstairs, including the ones that had been shipped.

By the time they were done, it was almost five in the morning. Now Eddie really was feeling bad. He knew that his dad had to report to work in just a couple hours.

"Uh, I know this took a while…" he began.

"Don't worry about it," Mr. Sweet said firmly. Eddie nodded with relief, his apology cut off mid sentence. He moved to disappear into his room, but Mr. Sweet grabbed his arm. "Hold on a minute. I just wanted you to know that…I'd like it if you called me dad."

Eddie froze. That's what he referred to Mr. Sweet in Christmas cards because his mom made him, but on the phone (he was forced to talk to his dad every three months) he never really called him anything. And when Eddie talked about him to his mom (which was rare) he carefully avoided using the term "dad" because he didn't believe Mr. Sweet deserved the title.

Eddie still felt like this, but that didn't mean he wasn't willing to give him a chance. "I'll think about it," he finally muttered, avoiding his father's gaze.

Eric, who had clearly been expecting the worst, brightened at this. He smiled sincerely, appreciating Eddie's willingness, however reluctant.

"That's all I can ask for. Goodnight."

* * *

Eddie slept through most of Friday, terribly jetlagged.

But the following morning, true to his word, Mr. Sweet showed him around the house. Normally Eddie liked to sleep in, but his body still wasn't adjusted to the new time zone and so he found himself wide awake during the tour.

The downstairs consisted of a foyer, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, a study, and a bathroom. Upstairs there were three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was a decently sized place, spacious and comfortable.

"This is a big place," Eddie looked around in poorly disguised awe.

"Too big, really," Mr. Sweet smiled sadly, his eyes trained on the ground.

"It must get lonely," Eddie found himself saying.

Eric appreciated his son's effort to empathize, even if Eddie didn't realize what he was doing. "Not anymore," Mr. Sweet replied. He headed for the kitchen and pulled out some cereal from the cupboard. "Breakfast?"

"Um, what's in the fridge?"

"Erm…quite a few things," Mr. Sweet scrunched up his face in confusion. "You don't like cereal?"

"No, I do," Eddie assured him. He walked to the fridge and rummaged around for a moment. When he stepped back, he had a satisfied look on his face. "We have the right ingredients for pancakes. I could…I could make those. If you want."

"Well that would be delightful," Mr. Sweet replied, stunned. "You can cook?"

"Just stuff I like," Eddie clarified.

"I presume you like pancakes."

"I love them," Eddie replied feelingly, a small grin sneaking onto his face, his eyes lightning up.

That was the first time Eric ever witnessed his son smile. Eddie's eyes crinkled and shone with young innocence.

It was the single most amazing thing Eric had ever seen.

* * *

The weekend passed by rather quickly. Not having the energy to start a fight, Eddie found himself playing nice, mostly out of laziness more than anything else.

He wasn't overly talkative, but he spoke when spoken to and reined in his instinct to be aggressive and rude.

However, he hadn't called him "dad" yet either. As usual, he stuck to not calling him anything at all. Nothing sounded right.

Monday morning rolled around and Eddie found himself dressed in black slacks, a proper white shirt, and a deep blue blazer and tie.

"Uniforms are lame," he complained.

"Much like Ra International, Blue Ridge has a casual dress code. We don't have one strict uniform, but we sell various articles of formal clothing with our school emblem and colors. As long as students wear some kind of combination from those, it's acceptable."

Taking in Eddie's blank, uninterested stare, Eric exhaled. "It's slightly better than a uniform was my point," he explained.

"Oh."

They finished their breakfast in silence. Eddie dumped his dish in the sink when he was done and reached for his backpack.

"Edison…Eddie," Mr. Sweet corrected himself. "One thing before you go."

"Yes?"

Eddie internally groaned. The last thing he wanted was some kind of motivational speech about new schools and new beginnings, especially from his father.

Just because Eddie was discovering that he didn't completely hate the guy, didn't mean he was ready for father and son bonding. The only reason he hadn't lost his temper so far was because the topic of their strange relationship hadn't been broached.

"Your mother and I spoke on the phone last night. I am aware of your…shenanigans at your prior school and I must say, I disapprove. I know I've had no role in your upbringing, so I can't say much from my end, but it would mean a lot to your mother if you sincerely tried at your new school. If you did your best. College is something to consider and you've got to start getting serious. You'll be attending a prestigious school, but that's not enough. You've got to work…for your mother's sake."

Eddie nodded stiffly. "Okay," he mumbled. Since his father wasn't giving him some misguided lecture, he felt calm. Eric recognized that he didn't exactly have a right to comment on Eddie's past, and Eddie appreciated that. Everything being said was reasonable; it sounded like something his mother would say.

"I'm afraid okay isn't good enough," Mr. Sweet murmured with remorse. "According to your mother, you must join at least one club at your new school. And nothing less than a 85% will do."

Eyebrows rising high, Eddie shot his father a look of sheer disbelief. "I'd prefer to hear that from her directly."

"You're going to be late, but feel free to call when you get home from school," Mr. Sweet offered. "Oh, and here."

He handed Eddie an iPhone, a nervous look on his face. Eddie took it from him carefully, looking confused. "Is this for me?"

"Yes," Mr. Sweet looked a little anxious. "Do you like it? You needed a cellphone that will work here and all the kids at Ra seem to have one of these things. I asked to make sure I got the right one."

"You can't make everything magically better by spoiling me with cool gifts," Eddie said sharply.

He instantly regretted the cold words. His father's shoulders slumped, deep disappointment clearly written all over his face.

"I'm sorry," Eddie blurted out, before he could stop himself. "I don't really know you and that makes me kind of mean. I don't…" he trailed off helplessly. "Like you said, there's a lot to talk about. But thank you for the phone. I love it."

Mr. Sweet looked up cautiously and was instantly appeased. Still feeling bad, Eddie carefully cradled the phone in his hands.

"I love it," he repeated, hoping to convince his father. "I'm going to go to school now but uh, I promise I'll join a club. And I'll call mom after school."

"Excellent," Mr. Sweet spoke with genuine enthusiasm.

Eddie stepped out of the house and headed down the path towards the front gate. On the way there, he passed a group of kids in a variety of maroon uniforms heading for the main Ra school building.

He accidentally made eye contact with a girl with piercing green eyes. She was pretty, with reddish brown long hair and a killer figure.

For a second, he thought about saying hello. But not in the mood to flirt or approach a group of new people, he ducked his head and kept on walking.

As he continued down towards his temporary bus stop, he could still feel the girl's gaze trained on his back.

* * *

**A/N:**

I went ahead and named the school Ra International Boarding School because I got so tired of continuously referring to it as "the school." I figure since we have an Anubis House and an Isis House it isn't a stretch to name the entire school after Ra. I know the the Egyptian sun god has a couple of different names but I just went with that one.

You probably noticed that I interchange the names Mr. Sweet and Eric. It felt strange to repeatedly call him by his surname when Eric is so much easier but since we know him as Mr. Sweet I just went ahead and used both. I also named his ex-wife Molly because I didn't want to keep calling her Ms. Miller and I can't remember if the show ever gave her a name or if I gave her a name in a different fic. -shrugs-

But anyway, that's the beginning! I look forward to hearing your thoughts :)


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:**

Sad that TH is over so I'm publishing this installment a little earlier than planned! I'm also a little baffled because when skimming through TH I realized that chapter 6 and 7 were the same which means at some point I lost a chapter when editing and I can't find the original so it's just gone from the fic. So that's depressing. But I checked the outline and it was a filler so I'm grateful but STILL - it's too bad :(

But enough about TH. Thanks for the enthusiastic response to chapter one! Fair waring - this fic has a decent amount of OCs which makes sense since I made Eddie attend a different school. I hope that doesn't throw anyone off too much.

Chapter length (excluding A/N): 3775 words

**Disclaimer: House of Anubis belongs to Nickelodeon, not me.**

* * *

"Homework!" Patricia announced in a singsong voice, entering her room and depositing a pile of papers on Joy's bed.

"Worst present ever," Joy whined from underneath her comforter. She burrowed deeper into her mess of blankets and sniffled.

Patricia sat lightly on the edge of her best friend's bed, careful not to come too close. "Still not feeling better?"

"No," Joy moaned, reluctantly popping up to reach for a tissue to blow her nose. "It's lucky that's Trudy here to look after us. Otherwise I swear, Victor would have made me go to class."

"Probably," Patricia agreed. "All of our teachers gave me work to take to you since you won't be able to come in tomorrow either."

"Nice of them," Joy rolled her eyes and sighed. "I like skipping school, but I hate being sick. I feel like I'm missing out on everything. Anything interesting to report? Did Fabian say anything about me?

Patricia sighed. "As your best friend, it's my duty to tell you as it is. He's definitely still smitten with Nina." Joy visibly deflated and Patricia hurried to expand her statement. "But you'll always be his friend. He definitely noticed that you were gone! He asked about you."

Joy lit up like a Christmas tree and Patricia resisted the urge to face palm. She wasn't anti-romance, but having never been extremely taken with someone, she found all the pining ridiculous.

"What else?" Joy sat up eagerly, popping a cough drop into her mouth.

"Nothing else about Fabian so don't look so excited," Patricia warned, smirking when Joy slumped back down into the covers. "However, something mildly interesting did happen to me this morning."

"You remembered to go to Sweet's bio lecture?"

"Hilarious," Patricia said dryly. "Although for your information, I _did _go to his class today, thank you very much. But I was actually going to tell you all about the cute boy I saw."

"Cute boy?" Joy started to sit up again but Patricia pushed her down again.

"Really cute," Patricia confirmed. "He looked at me for a second and I could have sworn he was going to introduce himself or something but then he kept walking…in the opposite direction of the school."

"Ooh interesting. Is he in any of our classes?"

"Well that's the weird part," Patricia frowned. "He was wearing a Blue Ridge uniform. Why would a Ridge kid be on Ra school grounds when there's no sports tournament going on?"

"Oh, well that must be Eric's son!"

The two girls looked up to see Trudy standing in the doorway, holding a tray with a single cup of tea on it.

"This is for you, dear," Trudy handed the cup to Joy before turning to Patricia. "Since you're not ill, you're going to have to make your tea yourself."

Patricia grinned. "Oh stop it, Truds," she said, smiling wider at the housekeeper's look of disbelief at the nickname. "If I really wanted tea and asked nicely, you'd totally make it for me. So forget about that. Tell us about Mr. Sweet's son instead. I never knew he had one."

"Neither did the rest of us," Trudy replied. "Actually, I'm pretty sure Victor knew because he didn't seem surprised when Eric mentioned his son was coming to live with him. He's from America though. California, I think? There's not much more I can say about him; I don't even remember his name."

Joy let out a loud, noisy cough. "That doesn't make sense," she pointed out upon regaining her breath. "Why go to Blue Ridge if your father is the headmaster of a school on the same campus as your house? It seems silly to go anywhere else."

"Super sketch," Patricia murmured in agreement.

Hands on hips, Trudy frowned in disapproval. "Stop gossiping, girls," she chided. "I'm sure Eric and his son have their reasons. Now don't be late for dinner, alright?"

After Trudy had left the room, Patricia got up and locked the door before turning back to her best friend. "It's weird, don't you think?" she insisted. "Do you think…do you think Sweetie's son has something to do with that weird goblet of life and your disappearance and Nina and – "

"And all the insane stuff that happened last term, yeah, I get what you're saying," Joy interrupted. "I doubt it though. You don't even know him. Why all the suspicion?"

"Another American," Patricia wrinkled her nose. "They're nothing but trouble."

"Patricia!" Joy scolded. "That's not very nice. Remember how cool Nina turned out to be? Minus the stealing the heart of the boy I'm in love with?"

At that, Patricia let out a sympathetic giggle. "Yeah, fine, I guess you're right."

"Always," Joy said cheerfully, setting aside her empty teacup on her nightstand. "Now go make me some chicken soup please."

Patricia stood up with a huff and complied.

* * *

Blue Ridge wasn't so bad.

Actually, it was pretty good, as far as new schools could go.

Eddie could be social when he wanted to be and he promised his mother he'd make a sincere effort so he'd been on his best behavior all morning. He took notes in class, introduced himself to the kids sitting around him, and chatted with as many people as he could.

It was by chance that the first kid he hit it off with would later introduce him to the one club Eddie had promised his parents he would join.

"Edison, right?" A teen with shaggy chestnut hair sat next to him. At Eddie's bewildered stare, he laughed. "Sorry, our class is pretty small and news travels fast. I'm Ben."

"You mean, Benjamin?" Eddie smirked.

Ben tapped his pencil against the desk with a small frown. "I prefer Ben," he confessed.

"And I prefer Eddie," he replied with a grin. "Nice to meet you, dude."

Ben beamed in response. "Likewise."

English class began and Eddie flipped open his notebook like the good student he was striving to become.

"You like English class?" Ben whispered, noticing Eddie's careful notes.

"It's alright," Eddie said in a low voice, avoiding calling unwanted attention to himself. His parents wouldn't be pleased if he managed to get in trouble on day one itself. "I promised my mom I'd reform."

Ben's posture straightened with curious interest. "Sit with me and my friends at lunch. We can talk more then."

Eddie had been worried about having to sit alone so Ben's offer was a tremendous relief.

By the time they had walked to the cafeteria, Ben knew the basic circumstances as to why Eddie had moved.

"I have to say, I'm disappointed," Ben slid his tray over to the register and paid for his food. "When you said reform, I was expecting some kind of epic story about how you got expelled."

Eddie laughed. "My mom would have killed me if that were the case. I did get suspended though. Or I would have been, had my mom not pulled me out of that school."

Ben looked impressed.

Seeing his expression, a look of sheepishness crossed Eddie's face. "I'm not a bad person or anything," he added.

"I'm sure you're not, bro," Ben led him to a round table in the middle of the cafeteria. "I just don't have any experience with pulling pranks and acting out."

"So you're a model student and human being, huh?" Eddie teased.

"Pretty much." It was Ben's turn to look remorseful. "I blame it on the fact that I have sisters, older and younger. I swear, my parents raised me thinking I was a girl too."

"Anyway, here's a quick heads up. Since our class size is smaller than average, we don't have a whole lot of clique behavior going on, but I _do _sit with my Model UN friends."

"Your what?" Eddie asked.

Ben nearly dropped his lunch tray in astonishment. "You've never heard of Model UN?" The blank look on Eddie's face told Ben all he needed to know. Sighing, he sat down at the table and motioned for his new friend to do the same. "First meet my friends."

"This is Violet," Ben introduced almost shyly, a dopey grin flitting across his face.

It didn't take rocket science to realize that Ben was crushing hard on the petite, soft spoken brunette. Eddie shook her hand and listened to Ben babble about how awesome she was at resolution writing…whatever that meant.

By the end of lunch, Eddie had met a handful of new people.

There was the energetic and hilarious Nick, who was of Indian origin but claimed that his actual first name was too confusing to pronounce. From what Eddie had gathered, he was silly, but of brilliant mind when he wanted to be.

Next, he met Alessandra and Alexander, fraternal twins. Allie was a redhead, as outgoing and outspoken, as Alex was quiet, calm, and dark haired. Apparently, Allie was a solid debater and Alex was good with technology.

The last person seated at the table was a girl named Bria. According to Ben, she was good at history and geography, but all Eddie registered was that her hair was shiny and blond and that she smelled good. The fact that she was also looking at him with hearts in her eyes was mildly alarming, but Eddie would be lying if he hadn't felt some sort of attraction.

He grinned. He already liked his new friends.

"Now someone tell me what Model UN is because I've never heard of it," he reminded them.

"He doesn't know?" Allie asked skeptically, tilting her head to the side. Alex elbowed her subtly and shot her a warning glance that she promptly ignored. "Ow, Alexander!"

"She's the only one who calls Alex by his full name, by the way," Nick informed Eddie. "I think it's hilarious."

Bria cleared her throat, decidedly taking responsibility for the explanation. "Model UN stands for Model United Nations – "

"I'm sure he knew _that _much," Allie jumped in.

Alex sighed and shook his head tiredly, as though lunchtime was too early in the day for his sister's antics.

"I figured it'd be best to start from the beginning," Bria protested.

"The beginning is fine," Eddie assured her, smiling.

"So this is a program that exists in lots of schools. Each one is a little different but the essence is the same; we mimic the United Nations. So, there are two main types of conferences: standard and crisis based. Blue Ridge operates standard, but lots of universities tend to be crisis based. Basically, we meet once a week and discuss world issues and politics. But we're also simultaneously preparing for a region wide conference – as in over a thousand students in the area attend. Club members are assigned a country and committee and they have to create a fact sheet and write a proposal.

"A proposal?" Eddie questioned. He was in over his head, Bria's intellectual words swirling together and mixing up in his head.

"Well, it's a little complicated," she admitted. "There are a ton of subcommittees and each one is given a list of three topics to be discussed at conference. Suppose you're assigned the country Uganda and the committee nation building. You will have to write a paper addressing those three topics in relation to Uganda and its interests, which is where the fact sheet comes into play. Before you write this proposal, you have to know your country very well."

"That sounds…confusing," Eddie paused, his fork poised in the air.

"It is at first," Bria conceded. "But we walk new club members through each step. It's actually really fun! Once you get to conference, you receive this packet with all of the proposals in your committee and then you debate stuff and team up with other countries to write resolutions. You're basically trying to solve a couple of major problems, real ones that the actual UN deals with. There's so much to cover which is why there are multiple committees; each one focuses on a different area."

Violet giggled quietly at Eddie's look of unmasked horror. "It's not as nerdy as it sounds."

"It's actually exactly as nerdy as it sound," Nick countered. "But it's so cool. Best freaking weekend of the term."

"I like destroying stupid people in front of an audience," Allie chimed in.

"There's a tech/press committee too," Alex said. "We go around taking pictures and taking notes of what we see throughout the conference and then we put together a video, slideshow, and newsletter. It's geared towards the people who aren't into talking so much."

"That's the most I've heard you speak so I guess that makes sense," Eddie joked. "It sounds…interesting. But I'm not good at tech stuff _or _debating, so…"

"You said you're looking for a club to join, didn't you?" Ben jumped in. "Just give it a shot."

"This really doesn't sound like my thing," Eddie argued. "I like video games. And television. I don't know the first thing about world politics."

Nick snickered. "I like those things too and I still do MUN. Plus, you may surprise yourself. I think you're going to be good at it."

Eddie knew he shouldn't ask, but he was curious. "How can you tell?"

"You're confident," Nick replied. "You're a new kid but here you are, being social with no effort at all. There's potential there. I have a feeing."

"And Nick's feelings are always on par," Bria said with a straight face.

"Don't mock me, woman, they are!"

Ben pulled a flyer out of his backpack and laid it on the lunch table. "First meeting is next week. Just think about it."

"You just happened to have a flyer with you?" Eddie took it and shoved it in his own bag. "That's a coincidence."

"Not at all," Ben said with a broad smile. "I'm our delegation's president."

"Of course you are," Eddie muttered with a soft sigh of acceptance. "Okay, I'll think about it."

Bria squealed and gave Eddie a quick hug that surprised him and made the tips of his ears go red.

"I'll think about it," he repeated with more conviction, surprised to find himself meaning the words.

* * *

"School is good, mom," Eddie stepped off the bus and began to trudge up the hill and across the Ra International campus. He could have waited to go home before he made the call, but he was afraid that his dad would be around and that things would get awkward.

"Well there's not much to say," he said, trying to hide the exasperation from his tone. "I went to school, took notes, and made some new friends. It was good."

He paused and listened to Molly's words, rolling his eyes in impatience when she was finished. "Yeah, I'm behaving. That was the taking notes part."

Lost in his conversation, he walked straight into someone. "Sorry," he began, disconnecting his call without a second thought. He'd call his mom back.

"You should be," Patricia snapped, also immersed in her phone. "Watch where you're going."

Eddie let out a short laugh of indignant disbelief. It was the girl he had seen this morning.

"I should be?" he echoed. "I apologized, you don't have to be so rude about it."

"Oh, it's you!" Patricia looked up from her phone, her green orbs wide with surprise. "The American."

"And proud," Eddie retorted. "You told me to watch where I was going when you were on the phone too. In fact, you were texting. That's way worse than being distracted by a phone call."

"Well, if you can't walk and talk to your girlfriend at the same time – "

"That was my mom!" Eddie interrupted. "Not that it's any of your business."

Patricia gave him a scathing look before deciding on being amused. "Figures Sweetie's son would be a drama queen."

Eddie scowled. "You don't even know me."

"I don't care to," Patricia said with a shrug.

He was about to retort with something equally rude when he realized that this was the first time he had felt so alive. Even hanging out with Ben and his friends hadn't been so…exhilarating.

Granted, arguing with this girl was probably some twisted defense mechanism. He was fighting with a stranger over something stupid, instead of fighting with his father over something much more important.

That's when he decided being mad wasn't the way to go.

Pointing to his uniform, he smirked. "Well you won't have to. But it's a shame. You're missing out on knowing someone pretty damn awesome."

"Excuse me?" Patricia demanded.

"Excused," Eddie winked and waved at her cockily, aware of how arrogant he was coming across. "See ya around, Yacker."

"Yacker?" Patricia called out to him even though he had started to continue up the path.

"You talk too much," he replied, without turning around.

Patricia considered racing to catch up but she wasn't about to give this kid the satisfaction. "What should I call you then?"

Eddie did turn around then, giving her a half shrug. "Whatever floats your boat."

"Until next time then, cockroach," Patricia said, not realizing that she had gone from being genuinely offended to being sincerely amused.

Eddie laughed then, loud and bright, and Patricia found herself admiring the sound.

And that's when she got the first inkling that she might have a problem on her hands.

* * *

Dinners were awkward and Eddie hated it. The table seemed too large with him and Mr. Sweet sitting on opposite ends and Eddie found himself struggling to come up with topics of conversation even though he had no interest in talking to him.

Eddie had grown up with so many questions, had wanted an explanation for his parents divorce. But now that he had the opportunity to get it, he found himself dreading the conversation.

Luckily, Mr. Sweet took it upon himself to get the ball rolling.

"So how was school? Do you like Blue Ridge?"

"It's actually pretty good," Eddie pushed the pasta on his plate around and avoided his father's gaze.

All of the social skills he had discovered he had were rapidly disappearing. He wanted to escape, go to his room and hide.

He wasn't used to his father and eating dinner with him like this just seemed too casual. The fact that he had to live with someone he barely knew was finally beginning to sink in.

"Oh good," Mr. Sweet nodded, satisfied. "Because if you're unhappy there, I can easily have you transferred to Ra International."

"No." Eddie's words were quick and cold, firm and sharp. "No thanks."

"It's a good school," Mr. Sweet persisted.

Eddie didn't respond, steadily gazing at his glass of water like it was the single most interesting thing in the world.

"Just because you're not fond of me doesn't mean you need to reject my school," Mr. Sweet finally murmured.

"That's exactly what it means," Eddie argued, fighting to keep his temper under control. "You left. I don't even know why other than _things just weren't working out. _You couldn't be dedicated to your son, but you could be dedicated to your stupid school? And you want to insult me by asking me to attend it? I wouldn't ever," he spat.

"It's not like that!" Mr. Sweet looked stricken. "It's much more complicated than that."

"How?" Eddie pressed. "What's it like then?"

"I did it for your own good," Mr. Sweet finally said, looking hurt. "For Molly's good too. Things were getting dangerous and we just couldn't agree on…things."

"On things," Eddie repeated. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I can't explain," Mr. Sweet murmured, miserable.

"Of course not." Eddie pushed his plate aside and shoved his chair, rising unsteadily to his feet.

He walked out of the kitchen without waiting to be excused.

* * *

Mr. Sweet entered Anubis House with a deep frown. He walked to the staircase and glanced at Victor's office, spotting the door open and the chair empty.

"Patricia!" Mr. Sweet called, spotting her in the living room. "Have you seen Victor by any chance?"

"Kitchen," she replied.

He thanked her and hurried towards the kitchen. It was the distraught look on his face that caught Patricia's attention.

Knowing she shouldn't, she got up and followed her headmaster, ducking behind the wall that separated the kitchen and the dining area.

"Ah, Victor," Mr. Sweet said. "I was looking for you. I was hoping we could talk about Edison."

"Your son," Victor acknowledged. "What about him?"

"Well, we've been having trouble and I was hoping to talk about it with someone. I'm afraid he hates me."

Victor popped his cup of tea in the microwave. "Why is that a bad thing?"

"He's my son," Mr. Sweet responded, stunned. "I know you don't like children but surely you don't expect me to enjoy my son's hatred for me."

"I've met Molly," Victor finally muttered, looking for his tiny bit of heart. "I can't imagine any child of yours and Molly's capable of hate."

Mr. Sweet looked touched. "Well that's kind of you."

Victor grunted, uncomfortable.

"I don't know what to do though," Mr. Sweet continued.

Clearly eager to end this discussion, Victor put sugar in his tea and made for the door. "Have you considered telling him the truth?"

"The truth!" Mr. Sweet exclaimed. "That involves me telling him about everything. Our hopes, our dreams. The failure of last term. Rufus. _Everything. _I'd have to tell him about all of it. He'd never understand."

"That's between you and him," Victor said. "We failed. Immortality is unattainable. It cannot be done. We missed our one and only chance so I don't see the harm in telling him everything when it's all over."

Mr. Sweet shook his head. "I'm not so sure. He's the Osirian, Victor. I know he is. I don't want to put him at risk."

"He is not at risk," Victor countered sharply, losing patience. "The Osirian is of no use! That Martin girl was the chosen one and you saw how that worked out – it did not. The Osirian would only be useful in the quest for the mask of anubis. But I am positive it does not exist. Whatever role your son would have played will no longer come to pass. Just tell him the truth."

"I'll…I'll think about it. Thank you, Victor. You've been quite helpful."

Victor mumbled something unintelligible and made his way to his office, completely missing Patricia curled in a ball underneath one of the dining room chairs, trying to remain unseen.

Mr. Sweet didn't see her either as he saw himself out, a thoughtful look etched upon his face.

She stayed there and pondered what she had heard.

* * *

**A/N:**

Hahaha is Bria making people nervous? I'm just having some fun ;)

Feedback and comments much appreciated! I was worried about all the OCs. I know I threw in about five or so and that can be tough to keep track of. Was it too confusing?


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:**

I apologize for the long time it took to update this! I think part of the reason it took me so long was because I was having a tough time writing out of the DT/TH universe. But I've finally adjusted even though I still miss that fic tons. Hopefully there won't be this much of a wait again but I do get quite busy outside of fanfiction so delays can happen. Thank you for being so patient though, much appreciated :)

The feedback to the chapter was awesome so thanks for that as well. I'm sorry some of you guys aren't a fan of having lots of OCs but because Eddie goes to a different school in this story, OCs were the only way to go. Don't worry though, while they will be mentioned a fair amount, they are not a part of the central storyline.

Oh and if I had followed my schedule we'd be due for a chapter 7 update this Friday, and I'm only updating chapter 3 this morning! I know I probably won't crank out three chapters before then but I'll try to get out at least one or two more to put us a little more on track.

Chapter length (excluding A/N): 3417

**Disclaimer: House of Anubis belongs to Nickelodeon, not me.**

* * *

Alfie Lewis was strolling through the house, headed for the kitchen, when Patricia stopped him.

"Excuse me, Patricia," Alfie said. "You are standing in between me and my midafternoon snack. Please move." He smacked his lips together and eyed the fridge with longing.

"That can wait," Patricia replied with impatience. "Sibuna meeting tonight. We'll meet in the kitchen at midnight, yeah?"

The smile disappeared from Alfie's face, replaced with concern. "Rufus isn't back, is he? What's going on?"

"Nothing like that," Patricia assured him. "I just have something I want to share with you guys."

"Who do you mean though?" Alfie frowned and jerked his head in the direction of Jerome and Joy who were arguing in the living room, as usual.

"Not them." Patricia felt a little guilty for leaving her best friend out, but she wasn't as much a part of Sibuna as the rest of them. Same with Jerome.

"You, Nina, Fabian and Amber. No one else," Patricia said firmly. "Spread the word."

"Yes ma'am," Alfie saluted her before sauntering off to the kitchen.

Patricia knew she could count on her goofy friend when need be. He'd make sure the rest knew about the meeting.

* * *

Eric hadn't worked up the courage to confront Eddie as Victor had suggested, but he was seriously considering it.

Now that he thought about it, even if he _was_ ready to talk to his son, he wasn't sure when he could have. Eddie was avoiding him; that much Eric was certain of.

Apparently, Eddie very desperately wanted to avoid his father, because he took the effort to wake up extra early and get ready for school. By the time Eric was downstairs for breakfast, Eddie had already left for school.

However, Eric had a strong suspicion that Eddie ended up standing at the bus stop and waiting, because wanting to escape his new home wasn't going to make the bus come any faster.

Blue Ridge let out at 2pm, but Eddie was rarely at home right afterwards. At first, Eric wasn't even sure where his son was going, but after talking to Molly on the phone, he found out that Eddie had been sitting in on Blue Ridge MUN meetings, trying to decide if he wanted to join.

Eric was pleased to hear this news, but he wished that Eddie would have told him so himself. But it's not like Eddie was really speaking to him; he was so intent on making himself scarce.

Sometimes when Eric would get out of school, after a long day of grueling staff meetings after classes, he would come home and find dinner cooked and waiting on the stove.

But despite cooking, Eddie hadn't waited up for him since their disagreement last week.

It was disheartening, being cast aside like that by his son. Living under one roof, the two of them were farther apart than they had ever been living on separate continents. That said a lot, considering how distant they were to begin with.

Things had only gotten worse, and Eric knew it was his own fault for keeping secrets, for being unable to balance his family and other interests.

Eddie was just a teenager. Sulking was his slightly rebellious way of rejecting Eric, just as her perceived Eric to have rejected him.

As an experienced educator, Eric recognized his son's behavior and the reasons behind it. But that didn't change the fact that both of their lives were currently one big mess.

Now, the only time Eric ever saw Eddie was when he peeked into his room to check on his son late at night, which was often past two or three in the morning.

Eddie looked peaceful then, usually sprawled across his bed on his stomach, one arm flung out to the side and the other wrapped around his pillow.

It was almost endearing, seeing his son simply breathe in and out. Actually, Eric wasn't sure if endearing was the right word, but he was positive his heart felt warmer.

Sometimes Eric would simply stand in the doorway, and lean against the frame absentmindedly, pondering all that he'd missed in his son's life.

After yet another night of checking in on Eddie in order to catch a glimpse of him, Eric retired to his own room and immediately sat at his desktop computer. He fired off an e-mail to Molly, requesting she send him some of videos of baby Eddie.

Eric had been diligent about collecting pictures, but he'd never seen videos and he knew they existed. There were a lot of memories that Molly and Eddie had created together without him, and for the first time, Eric allowed his heart to pang at the sharp loss of missing out on something special.

He knew he couldn't go back and change the past, but he wanted to see what he had missed – even if it hurt.

Molly noticed the strange time stamp on her ex-husband's e-mail and realized how late it must have been, but she didn't comment. She simply e-mailed Eric the digital files she had carefully stored on her computer.

The very next morning, Eric received the handful of videos from Eddie's childhood via e-mail.

Molly had always been prompt, thoughtful and caring.

Sometimes he wondered why he ever left her to begin with.

* * *

A sleepy Amber stormed into the kitchen, arms folded across her chest in anger. "Why is Sibuna meeting right now?" she demanded. "I'm losing time from my precious beauty sleep."

A bleary-eyed Fabian and Nina stumbled in after her, similar tired scowls plastered onto their faces.

"What is it, Patricia? Please don't tell me there's some kind of dangerous enemy we're chasing after," Nina complained.

Alfie hoisted himself up onto the kitchen island and grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl. "I, for one, am glad to be here," he offered.

"Calm down, drama queens," Patricia ordered, fixing everyone but Alfie with a heated glare. "It's nothing drastic. I just…overheard something interesting the other night. A conversation between Mr. Sweet and Victor. I wanted to tell you guys at a time where I knew we wouldn't be interrupted."

"Where you knew we wouldn't be interrupted…" Fabian mused, looking confused. "What do you mean? Does this have to do with Sibuna?"

"I don't actually know," Patricia replied, a little helpless. "Okay, so let me start from the beginning. You guys know that Sweet's son moved in with him, right? Goes to Blue Ridge?"

"No," the remainder of Sibuna chorused.

"Is he cute?" Amber asked.

"Why does he go to Blue Ridge?" Fabian whispered over her.

"I thought Sweetie was single," Alfie added, Nina nodding in agreement.

"Amateurs," Patricia snapped. "Yes he's cute, not that it's relevant. Not sure why he goes to Blue Ridge, that's part of the weird stuff I'm about to tell you. And obviously, Sweet is divorced."

"He could be widowed," Fabian pointed out.

"True," Patricia relented. "I guess we don't know much about his personal life."

"On a scale of 1-10, how cute?" Amber interrupted.

Alfie pouted. "Why does it matter when you're going out with me?"

Amber muttered something about being curious, but she backed off, properly chastised.

"Anyways," Patricia drawled. "I overheard Sweet coming to Victor for advice and – "

Fabian couldn't manage to keep his mouth shut. "Who would go to _Victor _for advice?"

It was a good point, but Patricia was tired of being interrupted.

"Just shut up and listen," she hissed. "I have the floor. Now settle down."

The four of them murmured their apologies and sank to the ground, leaning against the small wall that separated the kitchen from the dining room.

"He was going on and on about how he thinks his son hates him and he can't get his son to talk to him, blah blah blah. I think Sweet called him Edison, weird name. But here's the interesting part. Victor told Sweet to tell his son the truth. He told Sweet to tell him about Rufus and all of that."

"What?" Fabian's eyebrows knitted together in thought. "That's strange. What does Sweet's son have to do with all that?"

"That's what I was thinking!" Patricia exclaimed in a hushed whisper. "And there was one more thing. Sweet and Victor referred to Edison as the Osirian? Sweet said he didn't want to put his son in danger because of that, whatever that is. But Victor said it was all over and so that it didn't matter. It was all really strange."

"I'm going to interrupt right here and let you guys know that I have no idea what you're talking about." Amber had taken to braiding her hair, completely lost in the conversation.

"Yeah, same," Alfie agreed. At least he had the decency to sound disappointed, if not slightly ashamed. "What's an Osirian?"

"We've read about that," Fabian said thoughtfully, nudging Nina. "The Osirian is supposed to be the protector of the chosen one, which is Nina. From what we've understood, the Osirian and the chosen one are supposed to balance each other out, since they're meant to be opposites."

"Kind of sounds like you, Fabian," Patricia commented. "Minus the opposite thing though. You two are sickeningly similar."

"Wait!" Amber said. "If the Osirian is supposed to be protect Nina, doesn't that mean he should be with her? As in, date her?"

Fabian shifted uncomfortably and Nina patted his arm. "Um, no, Amber. I don't think it has to work like that," Nina said.

"The Osirian and the chosen one can be platonic," Fabian said firmly, squeezing Nina's hand without noticing.

"Yeah, yeah, lovebirds, stop worrying. This Edison kid doesn't even know Nina exists, so there's nothing to worry about."

"Getting back on point…the fact that Sweet's son is an Osirian doesn't matter because nothing weird is scheduled to happen this term. Is that right?" Alfie asked.

"I don't know if scheduled is the right word," Fabian replied. "These things just kind of happen."

"No dude, they definitely do not just _kind of happen_," Alfie huffed. "Last term, Victor and all his cronies were dressed up in funky robes, trying to _sacrifice _Joy or some crazy crap like that. That was very much planned."

"They weren't trying to – oh never mind," Fabian sighed, figuring it was best not to bother explaining something that was in the past.

Patricia yawned, before glancing at her watch. It was past one. "There's not a whole lot to discuss," she stood up and stretched. "I just wanted to let you guys know what I heard. I thought it was interesting that Sweet's son has come to live with him for some unknown reason and doesn't even know the kinds of things his father was involved in, the kind of role he was supposed to play in all this craziness."

"Definitely very interesting," Nina murmured.

"But since Victor seems to have given up and doesn't seem to be planning anything new, all of this shouldn't even matter. We should be fine." Fabian was doing his best to sound confident.

Alfie reached for another banana. "I'm not worried," he spoke in between bites.

"I'm not either," Nina declared. "Let Edison live his life, and we'll live ours. None of this Egyptian stuff even matters anymore. I'm glad you told us about it though, Patricia."

"Yes, this was a lovely meeting," Amber muttered stiffly, cranky due to the late hour.

Yet still, she couldn't resist. Raising a hand to her right eye, she let out an enthusiastic giggle. "Sibuna!"

"Sibuna," everyone chorused back, before disappearing to their respective rooms.

* * *

Eddie had been sitting in on executive board Model UN meetings as a guest in order to better understand what the organization was all about. As president, Ben and the rest of his e-board had to handle logistics and coordinate with the regional program before organizing meetings for the interested students at their school.

Ben had invited Eddie to these meetings with the hope that he would get a gist of the club and know if he wanted to join or not. Work started from the very first couple of meetings, so if Eddie were interested, he'd have to be on board from the beginning.

"So, this was our last e-board meeting," Ben said casually, closing his laptop. He and Eddie were the last ones in the room; everyone else had gone home. What do you think? Is MUN something you're interested in being a part of?"

"I'm still really confused," Eddie admitted. "And I still think this is for smart people. Doesn't seem like my thing."

"You're smart," Ben scoffed. "And of course you're confused. All the thing we've been working on was background stuff. Figuring out how many people Blue Ridge is allowed to bring, getting the conference debrief packet, etc. This is the boring nonsense that as a regular delegate, you wouldn't ever have to worry about. This is stuff that I handle with the help of Nick, Violet, and Allie, the other e-board members."

"Got it." Eddie pulled a granola bar out of his backpack and chewed thoughtfully. "So when is the meeting for us normal people?"

"Alright!" Ben cheered. "First meeting for general members is tomorrow afternoon. Will you be there?"

Eddie exited the classroom and the school building with Ben at his side. "I guess so," he replied. "This is where I've been all week anyway. Why break the trend?"

"That's the spirit," Ben said. "Although if you really don't want to, you don't have to. I know we've been kind of pressuring you, but it's okay if you don't join. I just figured since you needed to join a club…"

"No, it's fine," Eddie interrupted. "This is something I should be doing. The nerdier the club, the better. No offense." He grinned.

"None taken," Ben smirked. "We're very proud of how academic we are."

Eddie's eyebrows were raised in amusement. It was kind of hilarious that out of all the people at Blue Ridge, he'd been drawn to some of the most intelligent. It was probably for his own good, but it was still very weird and unlike him.

"I can see that." Eddie walked over to the late bus that had just pulled ub to the curb. "See you tomorrow, man."

"Mate! Over here we say mate. Clueless American."

Ben raised his voice so that Eddie would hear him, laughing loudly when Eddie rolled his eyes and blatantly ignored him.

On the trek back to his father's house, Eddie thought about the girl he had chatted and joked with last week. He hadn't seen her since that day, because every day afterwards he had started coming home later than usual because the meetings.

She had been fun to talk to, even if he had only spent a few minutes with her. But it's not like he even knew her name. The chances of seeing her again were probably slim, he figured.

But then he remembered Bria, who had taken to sitting near him at lunch every day. She'd flash him her pretty smile and touch him on the arm or shoulder a lot.

The rest of the walk seemed go much quicker than usual, Eddie lost in his thoughts of his cute blond friend, forgetting about the stunning redhead.

It wasn't until hours later that Eric knocked on Eddie's door, flabbergasted at how nervous he felt.

"Eddie?"

"It's unlocked."

Taking that as an invitation to come in, Eric pushed open the door. "I haven't seen you all week," he commented.

"I've been busy, yeah," Eddie replied flatly, briefly glancing up from his computer screen.

"I'm not going to ask you to leave Blue Ridge. You're not still upset about our discussion from before, are you?"

Eric had a feeling that Eddie was indeed upset about their disagreement, but to his surprise, Eddie sighed and shook his head.

"No, I guess not."

Avoiding his father had gotten to be difficult and if he was being honest with himself, it wasn't really what he wanted. It would be a miserable two years at his father's place if they were constantly treading carefully around one another.

Awkward silence ensued and finally Eric cleared his throat again, still hovering at the door. "So what's that you're looking at?" He jerked his head in the direction of Eddie's laptop.

"A webpage about Model UN." Eddie seemed reluctant to answer, his reply short and curt.

"That sounds like an interesting club," Eric said encouragingly. "Do you think you're going to join?"

Eddie shrugged noncommittally, even though he probably was going to join. "I think so."

Eric backed away then, turning to the direction of the kitchen. "I'll go cook dinner. See you in a little bit?"

Eddie grunted but it sounded affirmative so Eric took it as a good sign.

He would take whatever he got and would hope for an opportunity to tell his son everything later, when he was in the mood to listen.

* * *

"Hi Patricia!" Mara rushed up to link arms with her friend. "How are you? What class are you going to?"

Taken a back at Mara's unusual eagerness, Patricia shrugged uneasily. "Um, good? And government I think. Such a boring class."

"Is it though?" Mara pressed. "Government is kind of cool, don't you think?"

Patricia looked at her friend incredulously, freeing her arm as they approached her classroom. "No, it's lame. And I bet it functions poorly too. If I was smart enough, I'd totally ramble about the doomed fate of our country," she scoffed.

"Government is your best class though!"

"No it isn't, I - " Patricia paused only to realize that was Mara was correct. "Okay, fine," she relented. "That's only because the teacher isn't completely useless for once. _And how do you even know that?_

Mara flushed, not at all good at being devious. "Um...uh...doesn't matter. So, listen. You'd say you're good at arguing, right?"

Patricia leaned against the wall patiently as the class before hers exited the classroom. "Of course," she said with determination. "Where are you going with this? I get the feeling you want something."

"Yes," Mara admitted. "Please join our school's chapter of model un! I just started it and I want it to be successful and I know you don't think of yourself as an academic but a little practice and you'd be the _perfect _candidate."

"You want me to be a model?" Patricia asked blankly.

Mara rolled her eyes skyward. "We have a lot to work to do."

"Whatever this is, I didn't agree to it!"

Mara patted her friend's arm before heading in the direction of her classroom, a triumphant grin on her face. "You will." She practically skipped down the hall in her success.

Patricia sighed in defeat.

* * *

Eddie was making his usual trek home from the bus stop to his father's house, flipping through the papers he had received at the model un meeting. He had to admit he was intrigued.

They had received a brief overview of what model un was, what the conference would be like, and what their roles would be. Ben had received several blank stares and had promised to go into more detail next week. He had urged them to fill out the paperwork and look through the info packets and to bring in the sign up application if they were interested.

In his concentration over the papers in his hand, he found himself bumping into the redhead again.

"Oof," Patricia grunted. But instead of being annoyed, she looked up with a teasing grin. "So clumsy," she commented. "Seems like your sole purpose in life is to get in my way, _Edison."_

"Eddie," he corrected automatically, before gaping at her. "Wait, how did you know my name?"

"You don't need to know that," Patricia said dubiously, offering him yet another cheeky smile.

Eddie laughed in disbelief. "At least tell me your name, then," he said.

"Patricia."

He nodded thoughtfully. "Okay. See you around, Patricia."

He continued up the pathway, a piece of paper drifting out of his folder and falling onto the ground. By the time Patricia noticed it, he was long gone.

She picked it up, determined to return it the next time she saw this Eddie, and nearly couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the heading on the top of the paper.

"Blue Ridge Model UN Program."

Well. This could be interesting.

She was certainly going to do whatever Mara wanted to now that she knew that _he _was involved too.

* * *

**A/N:**

Slow build up but we'll get there! Thoughts? :)


End file.
